Oedipus Reading Notes

  • 496 B.C.-406 B.C. (Oedipus the King was written around 429 B.C.)

  • -LIVED 90 YEARS(UNHEARD OF THEN)

  • Colonus, Greece (Golden Age of Athens- center of democracy, theatre, literature, architecture, philosophy, etc.) 

  • (ALSO ARISTOTLE AND PLATO DURING THIS TIME)

  • Born into a wealthy family and was well- educated

  • Greek playwright and poet. Once a great actor but later retired because he wasn’t able to project his voice anymore(COMMON DURING THIS TIME BC NO MICROPHONES). 

  • Also involved in politics (Board of Generals devoted to the military affairs of the state)

  • Wrote 123 plays in all but only 7 survived

  • Won 24 out of 30 at the story-telling competition called Dionysia honoring the Greek god Dionysus (3 dramatists presented their plays in three days)

  • Three main writers of the time

    • Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. 

Introduced third actor (BEFORE HIM ONLY 2 ACTORS ON STAGE AT ONCE ALSO CHORUS)

  • Plays were performed in an amphitheater, with the chorus describing most of the action while wearing masks. 

  • Greek theatre was part of religious festivals celebrating Dionysus.

  • (STARTED OUT AS JUST RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS, SACRIFICES..ANIMALS MOSTLY AND SING AND PRAY TOGETHER=START OF THEATRE AND BECAME PERFORMANCES AND STORYTELLING)

  • Every citizen attended (BC SPONSORED BY GOV.. RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL)

  • Sponsored by the government

  • Greek Theatres could seat an audience of 15,000

  • About 12-15 people; only men (in Oedipus the King, they are citizens of Thebes)

  • Unpaid volunteers in the community (BC BIG DEAL)

  • Intensify the emotion and establish a lyrical mood through rhythmic chanting and dance

  • Their job: to bridge the gap between scenes and provide background and commentary about the play

According to legend, Thespis(LIKE THESPIAN/ACTOR) was the first actor who stepped out from the chorus.

  • Masks enables actors to play several different roles

  • Help the audience distinguish between sex, age, social status, and change in characters’ emotions or appearance 

  • Used megaphones to amplify their voices (PART OF MASK)

  • Exaggerated facial features made it easier for the audience to identify characters (SO YOU CAN SEE FROM FAR AWAY)

  • Made of cloth, leather, and wood with human hair

  • Famous actors had bejeweled masks (BC YOU CANT SEE THEM/DISTINGUISH OTHERWISE)

  • Tragedy-a serious drama featuring an unhappy ending, especially one concerning the downfall of the protagonist

  • Tragedy literally means “goat song” relating to the Dionysian sacrificial ritual (BC OF SACRIFICING GOATS FOR DIONYSUS)

  • Comedy- a drama that features a happy ending, especially for the protagonist

Satyr- short plays performed between acts of tragedies making fun of the characters in the tragedy (HALF GOAT HALF HUMAN, SHORT PRODUCTION, SATYR LIGHTENS UP MOOD BTWN SCENES.. WHERE WORD SATIRE [MOCKING SMTH SERIOUS]COMES FROM)

  • Aristotle’s Tragic hero/heroine - the protagonist, or main character, in the play.

  • He/she must be of noble birth or hold an important social position

  • He/she is generally good and has a desire to be good

  • He/she dies/fails at the end of the play 

  • Doomed/cursed from the beginning

  • Demise, or reversal of fortune, caused by their tragic flaw



  • The tragic her/heroine’s downfall is often due to an inborn character flaw or weakness – the tragic flaw.

  • Poor judgment is a tragic flaw, or error (Greek), called hamartia. 



  • Hubris, which means excessive pride or arrogance, is the most common type of hamartia.



  • Nemesis is a literary device that refers to a situation of poetic justice, where the good characters are rewarded for their virtues, and the evil characters are punished for their vices. Named after the goddess of revenge. She usually targets those who are guilty of hubris.

  • Catharsis- When a character has a purge (cleansing) of emotions

  • Dramatic Irony- When the audience knows information that the characters do not

Anagnorisis-the point in a play, novel, etc., in which a principal character recognizes or discovers another character's true identity or the true nature of their own circumstances.

  • Oedipus the King also known as Oedipus Rex(KING) or Oedipus Tyrannus(TYRANT)

  • It is the first of a trilogy labeled as the Three Theban (BC TAKES PLACE IN THEBES) Plays (followed by Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone)

  • Famous for being one of the world’s greatest tragedies

  • Originally written in ancient Greek

  • Thebes, Greece- One of the four major early fifth-century states in Greece

  • (Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes)

  • During the early years of the Peloponnesian War, when Oedipus Rex was produced, Athens suffered from political instability and devastating plague.

  • Sophocles opens his play with a situation in which the people of Athens could identify: a plague with no end in sight!